The holiday season got a whole lot brighter last week for the owners and staff of an Ohio restaurant.
According to a Facebook posting from the Souk Mediterranean Kitchen and Bar, a guest left a $5,600 tip earlier this month to be distributed among the entire staff.
“It meant each of our 28 staff members received a $200 tip,” the post said. “What an amazing gesture of kindness to my employees.”
Owner Moussa Salloukh said his restaurant hasn’t been immune to the ravages of the coronavirus.
“Normally this is a month when our employees work extra and guests tip generously,” he wrote. “December is a month for them to earn money to buy family gifts, put a bit into savings and take care of bills or repairs that have been lingering. With Covid restrictions and guidelines, that was not going to happen for them this year. So this heartfelt generosity was deeply needed and very appreciated.”
Salloukh also told CNN, “Your restaurant staff becomes your family and everyone cares about each other. I’ve been staying out of the kitchen to give employees hours to get through and put gifts under the tree for their kids, so this was so huge for us.”
Over the weekend, Congress finalized a $900 billion economic relief package designed to deliver aid to millions of households and businesses that have struggled for months to survive. Yet with the economy still in the grip of a pandemic that has increasingly tightened curbs on business activity, more federal help will likely be needed soon.
The package congressional leaders agreed to Sunday will provide benefits to the unemployed, loans to help small businesses stay open and up to $600 in cash payments to most individuals. It will also help families facing evictions remain in their homes. The measure includes no budgetary help, though, for states and localities that are being forced to turn to layoffs and service cuts as their tax revenue dries up — a potential long-run drag on the economy.
Months from now, economists say, the widespread distribution and use of vaccines could potentially unleash a robust economic rebound as the virus is quashed, businesses reopen, hiring picks up and consumers spend freely again.
President-elect Joe Biden has said he will seek another relief package soon after his inauguration next month.
S&P Global estimates that the money should help boost the U.S. economy back to its pre-pandemic level by the July-September quarter of next year.
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